Shiven Under 18s End the Drought

Sep 24, 2017

Shiven U18s bridge a 24 year gap to win Roscommon & District Youth & Schoolboys cup with a hard fought win over Castlerea on Saturday night.

In an evenly balanced first half both teams had good chances to go ahead but good defending on the night kept the game scoreless until Castlerea scored a stunning goal a minute before half time. Eoin Browne, Conor McDonald were in great form in the Shiven defence while Darragh Nolan, Hughie Daly & Josh Lane worked hard. Shiven, playing with the breeze in the 2nd half, got off to the worst possible start when a cross into the box got deflected to the net after only a minute. However, in typical fashion, Shiven picked up their game and fought for everything, with Adam Farrell, Pierce McDonagh & James Mulrooney getting more and more into the game. However, on 13 minutes, Castlerea were awarded a penalty, which Man-of-the-Match Jack Crehan saved brilliantly.

His heroics lifted the Shiven boys, and, with Rory Cunningham a constant thorn in the Castlerea defence, Shiven started to dominate. Sean Keating – unable to start due to an injury – was introduced with 15 minutes gone, and he had an immediate impact on the game. Jack Gavin started to dominate midfield, and Shiven threw everything at Castlerea. They created a number of chances before the ever reliable Rory Cunningham scored with 13 minutes left after some slick play by Eoin Browne and Darragh Nolan. Shiven kept the pressure on and a left foot wonder strike by Jack Gavin from 30 meters levelled the game. Both teams had chances in the final few minutes but Jack Crehan and Conor McDonald made sure we got to extra time. In extra time, young Carl Healy who came on in the second half was causing problems for the Castlerea defence, and himself and Adam Farrell combined to set up Rory Cunningham for the winner mid way through the second half in extra time. At the final whistle, there were scenes of jubilation as the Shiven boys ended the season as Cup Champions.